A place to share ideas and thoughts about miniatures, scale models, architecture and display my collections of Tynietoy, Strombecker, Tootsietoy, Halls, Kage, Kilgore &; Arcade cast iron, and a few other antique miniature finds and projects.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Oak Alley Plantation

A while back, my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting Oak Alley Plantation, one of the most famous plantations in Louisiana. This home was built in 1839 and was originally named Bon Séjour (pleasant sojourn). But steamboat passengers traveling on the nearby Mississippi River had a different view of the property. Marveling at the quarter-mile avenue of 28 giant, live oaks leading up to the house, they dubbed it “Oak Alley.” It is a short drive from New Orleans and sits along the bank of the Mississippi River. This famous view above is actually from the Mississippi River side. The house was one of the back drops for the movie "Interview With A Vampire" several years ago. Even today, Spanish moss grows and hangs from the live oak trees which were planted early in the 18th Century before the house was built.

This is the view from the second floor balcony looking back towards the river. All rooms in the house have high ceilings and large doors and windows that open to surrounding covered porches to aid in air circulation in the hot humid Southern United States.

This aerial view is from a photo in magazineusa.com. It shows the relationship to the Mississippi. The plaque below shows the status of the residence as a National Historic Landmark. The house is characterized by high ceilings, large windows, a
symmetrical facade and interior plan, and a second-floor gallery for
viewing purposes. The flooring was made of marble, but has since been removed and replaced by wood floors, the roof is slate, and the house and columns of brick painted
white to look like marble.

Photography was not allowed inside the house, but I have found a few glimpses into the interior of the house online.

The large object above the dining room table was actually a large fan that would swing back and forth by having one of the slaves stand in the corner and pull on the chord.

John, at his miniature blog called Merriman Park, is contemplating putting a similar piece in his dining room. You can check that out by clicking here.

11 comments:

Thanks for the shout-out, Troy! What a beautiful home...I remember it fondly from the movie and still have a hard time when it goes up in flames. (I KNOW it was only make-believe...but still)! I appreciate you going into your archives for this --thanks, Troy!

Hi again, Troy --I just popped back over to see the shoo-fly in your photo again because it is so different than the ones I found in my research. Hmmmmmmm....I'm torn! Thanks again for the mention and hope you and your family have a lovely Easter weekend!John

Hi Troy am willing to pay a percentage of royalties when book is published for the use of your copywritted picture. I am getting started on my book being published and found your picture. I do not however know how to contact you to get this picture under contract so you would get percentage of my book when published and sold on the internet market. I have disk with downloaded picture how I want my cover to look. Will put picture of it here if you would like. Thank You for your time, Mary Hammons

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